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“We have all the ingredients for a thriving local food economy. We just need a new recipe to meet today’s food system challenges.”
— Sue Beckwith, Texas Center for Local Food director
BASTROP – Rich in prime farmland, reliable water and agricultural heritage, Bastrop County has both the natural and human resources needed to become a thriving hub in the local food economy.
The county’s first local food plan released in April by the Texas Center for Local Food laid out how to best capitalize on these strengths while overcoming entrenched barriers to a diverse and thriving food economy.
“Bastrop has all the ingredients to fill our region’s local food basket,” said center Director Sue Beckwith. “Our strategic position between major metropolitan markets means that a robust local food program brings significant economic, health and environmental benefits to our community.”
For the past year, the Elgin-based organization has been taking the lead in creating the Bastrop County Local Food Action Partnership. The working group has focused on strengthening partnerships, evaluating food access and identifying underdeveloped capacity – with the added goal of creating a model for other counties to join the growing demand for a healthier and more resilient food system, according to representatives.
The center led the yearlong collaboration with leaders in farming, food preparation, public health and community organizations, made possible with support from St. David’s Foundation and the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, added Beckwith.
Like many counties in the fast-growing Central Texas region, Bastrop’s agricultural roots have been paved over at an alarming rate. At the same time, nearly 95% of food produced in the county, primarily beef and commodity crops, isn’t processed, sold or eaten here, according to the organization.
“We need more affordable land to attract new and beginning farmers,” said Jarred Maxwell, cofounder of Austin Foodshed Investors. “We can’t ask farmers to grow more food if we aren’t willing to help generate more demand for their products and take steps to remove barriers getting their products to the markets where that demand lives.”
The Partnership’s plan focuses on strengthening private sector involvement to leverage and support existing resilience and food access work by the Hunger-Free Coalition, Bastrop County Cares and Iowa State University.
As lawmakers in Washington sort through proposed changes to the next farm bill, the plan will help the county prepare the ground for new federal dollars and programs aimed at growing local food economies around the country. Developed action projects include a local food fair, farmer-led incubator training, mapping tools, Texas Local Directory expansions and incentives for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program usage. According to organization representatives, program implementation faces mounting challenges for family farms in a region undergoing unprecedented growth and limited local control over best land use.
In Travis County, fewer than 1% of food consumed is grown locally and 16 acres of prime farmland is lost each day to development. Bastrop has more than 2,000 farms, yet fewer than 50 grow and sell their food for local markets, and only 10 grow vegetables for commercial sale.
Last summer, Congressman Greg Casar visited farmers in the county to hear their concerns, with affordable land topping the list. At the state level, the Texas House Ways and Means Committee heard comments on a bill that would make it easier for beginning farmers with under 10 acres to qualify for property tax breaks. It remained stuck in committee.
“We have all the ingredients for a thriving local food economy,” said Beckwith. “We just need a new recipe to meet today’s food system challenges.”
Other than affordable land, the most immediate challenge is to lure more beginning farmers to the area, added the director.
The Elgin campus of Austin Community College is now in its fourth year of offering an associate degree in sustainable farming. However, high costs of living coupled with more extreme weather events make it tough to convince new farmers to invest here without added incentives, according to the team.
The county’s attraction for new, innovative businesses has recently improved, with two of Elon Musk’s businesses taking up shop, and a more diverse and higher-paid workforce moving to the county should increase demand for more local food enterprises, local business leaders said.
“Bastrop County’s bestkept secret is its natural beauty and resources,” said Jill Strube, Smithville’s economic development director. “We want to build on our farming heritage but with an eye toward future challenges. How can we do a better job growing and processing food for our residents — keeping those jobs and profits here?”
The county’s ongoing efforts to promote agritourism is a good example of how to engage the business communities and farming community. The action plan will help identify those pathways and opportunities for growth, added Strube.
The plan also provides examples and opportunities for engaging schools in how local food is grown and its challenges, such as the center’s successful grantfunded program that takes students on tours of regional farms and farmers markets. Connecting students with farmers can lead to increased civic engagement and greater appreciation for the local environment, said Norma Mercado, executive director of Bastrop County Cares.
Non-prof it, Bast rop County Cares, launched its sustainable food systems collaborative last fall. In November it will take the lead in creating the county’s inaugural local food fair where farmers, chefs, food artisans and educators will interact with the community to foster the kind of engagement and appreciation needed to grow a local food economy.
For more information, the complete Bastrop County Local Food Action Plan can be viewed at https://texaslocalfood.org/ Food-System/BC-Local-Food-Action-Plan/.
